JAXA: Japan’s state-of-the-art ground station antenna: Communicates with Hayabusa2

JAXA: Japan’s state-of-the-art ground station antenna: Communicates with Hayabusa2

JAXA:

JAXA = Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency built it in Saku City, Nagano Prefecture to communicate with the space probe.

“Ground station for deep space exploration of Misasa”:

Full-scale operation began this month, and the opening ceremony was held on April 10.

It was newly constructed by JAXA with a total construction cost of more than 10 billion yen.

Description of JAXA:

The parabolic antenna of the ground station is 54 meters in diameter.

Using a parabolic antenna,

From the earth called “deep space”
A place more than 2 million kilometers away and
You can communicate with “deep space”.

Communication with “Hayabusa2”:

On April 10th, in the morning, we communicated with the asteroid explorer “Hayabusa 2”.

Saku Nagano | NHK News

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210410/k10012967611000.html

Japan’s largest: Ground station antenna development

Misasa Deep Space Exploration Ground Station:

The 54m antenna communicates with a deep space probe far from Earth.

Antenna scale:

Next to Usuda’s 64m antenna,
Japan’s largest antenna, one of the largest in the world.
The height when facing the zenith is 70m.
Comparable to the height of a 20-story skyscraper.

Furthermore, it is a large-scale structure with a total weight of over 2,000 tons.

Mitsubishi Electric | Misasa Deep Space Exploration Ground Station (GREAT)

http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/society/space/control/great.html